Lost Police Property
by badly-knitted
Summary: Ryo has lost an important piece of police equipment, but it has to be in his apartment somewhere. Doesn't it? Set after Vol. 7.


**Title:** Lost Police Property

**Author:** badly-knitted

**Characters:** Ryo, Dee

**Rating:** PG-15

**Setting:** After Vol. 7

**Summary:** Ryo has lost an important piece of police equipment, but it has to be in his apartment somewhere. Doesn't it?

**Written Using:** The dw100 prompt 'Sherlock Holmes'.

**Word Count:** 1401

**Disclaimer:** I don't own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.

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Ryo frowned, gazing around the living room in helpless frustration. Dammit, why did his things always have to turn up missing right when he needed them? Some detective he was. He'd searched the whole apartment from top to bottom twice, but still there was no sign of his missing handcuffs.

He let out an exasperated sigh and ran one hand distractedly through his hair. Okay; let's start this again. What was it Sherlock Holmes said? Once you've eliminated the impossible, whatever's left, no matter how improbable, must be the truth, or something like that. Where did that leave him? In the same situation as before, apparently; perhaps if he started at the beginning and thought things through step by step…

He knew for a fact that he'd had his handcuffs last night when he got in from work and as he hadn't left the apartment since then, he could at least be sure he hadn't lost them somewhere else. He knew nobody had broken in and stolen them, because one, he would have heard something, he was a light sleeper, and two, who would break into someone's home and only steal a pair of police handcuffs? Even the dumbest criminal in the world would have had the sense to take the TV, or the laptop, or Bikky's game console. That meant the handcuffs had to be here somewhere, but he'd already looked in all the logical places.

They weren't in the drawer where he usually put them when he wasn't at work, or in the lock box on the top shelf of his wardrobe where his gun was kept; he'd already looked in there when he'd got his gun out and it was empty now aside from a couple of spare ammunition clips and his diary. They weren't in any of the pockets of the pants and jacket he'd been wearing yesterday, and they weren't in the laundry basket, accidentally picked up with the things he'd tossed in there when he was getting ready for bed. They weren't on the table just inside the door where he always left his keys when he came home so he didn't forget them in the morning, nor were they on the floor there having slid off; ditto his nightstand and dresser, and the floor around them. They weren't on, in, or under the bed, dropped without noticing when he'd changed out of his work clothes, or on the windowsill, or even hooked over the headboard, although why he should think they might have been there… Well, he'd checked and they weren't, so…

Maybe they were in the kitchen? He'd gone straight in there to make himself a cup of tea when he'd got in from work…

Nope, they weren't on the kitchen counter or the table. Just on the off chance he checked the trash bin, but they weren't in there either.

The sofa! He'd sat there to drink his tea before changing; maybe they'd slipped out of his pocket and gone down the back!

By the time he'd finished upending all the cushions he'd found a dollar eighty-five in change, a pencil, the cap off one of Bikky's felt tips, a comb he thought was Dee's, and half a pack of breath mints, but no handcuffs. This was insane! They had to be here, so why couldn't he find them? He checked his watch; if he didn't leave for work soon he'd be late.

Back in his bedroom, he dug through every drawer and checked the wardrobe again, including the lockbox. Nada, and now he really did have to leave for work. He'd just have to hope he didn't need to arrest anyone today.

Snagging his packed lunch from the refrigerator, he shoved his feet into his shoes, stuffed wallet, keys, and phone in his pockets, grabbed his coat, and headed out the door, locking it behind him. Somehow he managed to pull his coat on while hurrying down the stairs, and as soon as he was outside he broke into a run, only just making it to the bus stop as his bus pulled in. Slumping into the first seat he came to, he stared sightlessly out the window, still racking his brain over where his handcuffs could be; if they didn't turn up by tomorrow morning he'd have to requisition a new set. This was not a particularly encouraging start to the day. It didn't help that he was so deep in thought that he missed his stop and had to get off at the next one, breaking into a run again to make it to the precinct before the start of his shift.

"Hey!" Dee greeted as Ryo entered their shared office. Then he took in his partner's appearance. "What's up? You look a bit… stressed."

"It's nothing." Ryo shrugged out of his coat. "Just couldn't find everything I needed this morning. But I did find this." He dug in his pocket and passed Dee the comb he'd found.

"Oh, hey, I was wonderin' what happened to that! Where'd ya find it?"

"Down the back of the sofa."

"Ah." Dee grinned. "That was a good night; almost as good as last night. Speakin' of which… I've got something of yours. Didn't realise they were still attached until I got up this mornin'," and he held out his arm with Ryo's missing handcuffs still locked around one wrist.

Ryo went scarlet; how had he managed to forget about that? Sure, he'd left Dee's place in a bit of a rush afterwards because he'd had to go home and make sure Bikky had everything he needed for the start of the new school term this morning, but for such a memorable evening with his lover to completely slip his mind…

His shoulders sagged with relief; at least now he knew he for sure hadn't lost his handcuffs, just misplaced them. Then another thought hit him and he frowned. "I just spent an hour and a half turning my apartment upside down looking for those!" he complained, pulling out his keys to unlock the cuffs from Dee's wrist before putting them where they belonged.

"Sorry, babe; I probably should'a called to let ya know, but I kinda thought you'd remember. I mean, ya gotta admit last night was pretty awesome. 'Course, if we'd got a couple sets just for play like I wanted, this wouldn't have happened."

Glaring at his partner, Ryo grumbled, "Sometimes I really hate it when you're right."

"So is that a yes?"

His blush deepening, Ryo nodded. "Yes. And for the record, I didn't forget last night." Okay, so that was a lie, but Dee already thought he was an airhead and admitting he'd completely forgotten about their… activities the previous evening… He didn't want to hurt his lover's pride and anyway, getting Bikky ready for the first day of term was always so hectic there were times when it was all he could do to remember his own name. "It's just that we were at your place and anyway, we always use your handcuffs."

"Yeah, not this time," Dee said, sounding a bit sheepish. "I'd accidentally left mine here in my desk drawer so I just grabbed yours. I probably should'a told ya, but my mind was on other things at the time."

Ryo's had been too, both then and later, otherwise maybe he would have realised that it was his own keys on the nightstand that he'd used to unlock one of Dee's hands afterwards. Once he'd freshened up in the bathroom and gotten dressed he'd grabbed his keys and phone, given Dee a quick kiss, and left, so perhaps Dee wasn't entirely to blame…

Ryo's train of thought was abruptly broken.

"So, you wanna come with when I go shoppin'?"

"Shopping? For what?"

Dee rolled his eyes. "What were we just talkin' about, dumbass?"

"Oh!" Ryo's blush returned full force ad he ducked his head, feeling like an idiot. Why did he still get so embarrassed over anything to do with sex? "Uh, no, that's okay. I trust your judgement."

"Suit yourself, but ya don't know what you're missin'." Dee turned his attention to work and with a sigh of relief, Ryo did the same, but he glanced surreptitiously over at Dee while he wasn't looking. Maybe if he wasn't busy tonight they could use the cuffs again… and this time Ryo would definitely not forget.

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The End


End file.
